Pool Newbie - another one!

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D

DPM20

Member
Jul 31, 2020
16
Venice, FL
Pool Size
11400
Surface
Plaster
Chlorine
Salt Water Generator
SWG Type
Jandy Truclear / Ei
Hi Everyone
Sorry to be the millionth person to write their newbie pool story! I'm sure you veterans are sick of it!
So like many over the past few days, my wife and I bought a house that had an in-ground pool. Neither of us have any experience with pools so we are little nervous about it... Also, we plan to do the maintenance ourselves.
We went to Leslies and had a sample done. Our initial results were not very good as our previous owners had a "pool man" and they did not live in the house. From what I can tell all he did was cash their check and put in a puck into the chlorine dispenser!
FC: 4.22
TC: 4.22
pH: 7.9
Alkalinity: 78
Calcium: 436
CyA: 156
Phosphates: 0
TDS: 1900
Their advice was to immediately:
1. Drain Pool - we were in disbelief at the time and thought they were nuts!
2. Add Alkalinity up product
3. Add Muriatic Acid for high pH
Then for Weekly Maintenance Program:
1. Use Leslies Tabs to maintain 1-4 Chlorine - after talking to the store, we chose to use one of their chlorine products 1-2x/wk w/ less CyA (I forget what that was)
2. Add Leslies Shock once per week - we chose Power Powder Plus as it had no CyA
3. Add Perfect Weekly once per week - still can't figure out what this is for and why we would use this as we have no Phosphates! Have call in to store mgr as to why they would recommend as most folks on this site indicate it's waste of $$ - and at this point I agree and will discontinue using!
So fast forward a few weeks... We concluded that we are in state of chlorine lock and have to take measures to get CyA under control... We did some research and since we live in SoCal (expensive water!), we decided to go w/ Reverse Osmosis (RO). In the interim, we have lowered the level of our pool (by letting evaporate) and added new water. Also, since the regular Chlorine was not helping, we are just shocking every 3 days until we get the RO done so we don't get any algae. And cleaned the DE Filter (thanks to my super kind neighbor for helping me - with a mask!!!). This actually helped quite a bit and after testing today, we are at:
FC: .37 (Not concerned about this as I will be shocking tonight - and we're not using pool til RO is done)
TC: .47
pH: 7.7
Alkalinity: 85
Calcium: 430
CyA: 146
Phosphates: 0
TDS: 1900
So now to some questions/advice from the group on our Plan:
1. RO to lower CyA to between 40-60 as well as lower Calcium
2. Eliminate using the Perfect Weekly
3. Monitor pH and Alkalinity regularly and adjust as needed w/ MA- I think this is just something I will figure out the cause/effect and I'll use the tool here!
4. Chlorination - This is where I am a little confused. I don't want to use anything w/ CyA and Calcium or I'll be right back in same spot quickly (I understand nature will take me back here at some point, but I think w/ the evaporation here in SoCal and filling I can elongate that). I may be dreaming!! I am thinking 2.5 gallon of liquid chlorine per week. What is the advice on what to use?
Does this sound like a reasonable plan or are there gotchas that we need to look out for??
Thanks again and I look forward to engaging on this forum!
Dave
 
Ooooh No! No! No!! Do NOT listen to Leslies... please? (had to get that out before I welcomed you, it is *that* important!)

Welcome to TFP..you are so ahead of the game just because you desire to take care of your pool yourselves & you found us!!

The only thing I see that is way outta whack is your CYA (and FC by default).

Let me go thru your post line by line and rebut what the pool store said-.......be right back!

Maddie
 
FC: .37 (Not concerned about this as I will be shocking tonight - and we're not using pool til RO is done)
TC: .47
pH: 7.7
Alkalinity: 85
Calcium: 430
CyA: 146
Phosphates: 0
TDS: 1900
Click to expand...

Most out of line is your CYA which is far far too high. The higher your CYA is, the more FC (free chlorine) you need. It is a balancing act. You can either do the more expensive R/O or drain about 3/4 and refill (either one fell swoop, or multiple smaller drains and refills).

Your Alkalinity is FINE!!!! pH of 7.2-8 is acceptable (more on this later)

Calcium is okay too- don't do ANY thing to add more, especially as you're prone to evaporation which takes the water but not the calcium. That means your calcium will rise over time but we'll advise you in time about how to handle that.

Phosphates aren't something we worry about- as long as your FC is adequate, phosphates don't matter.

TDS means *everything* your pool contains...... water, salts, chlorine, CYA, calcium...yada yada yada. No biggie, except to the pool stores who use it and phosphates as scare tactics.

Next- Skip the weekly shock, skip any pucks and granular products, and stick with LIQUID CHLORINE! The greatest invention to pool care since sliced bread! :ROFLMAO: NO Perfect Weekly or PhosFree products!! Yay, saves a TON of money. :party:

Liquid chlorine, added daily or every other day, based on actual testing value won't add any more calcium, any more CYA or anything else you don't want.

The CYA you have in the pool at proper levels (for non-salt pools) is aprox 30-40ppm. More at times based on UV exposure.

How does your water look??

You need a GOOD test kit. Save me some typing and just order up the TF-100 www.tftetkits.net

Read: ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry
FC/CYA Levels
www.troublefreepool.com

What Are My Ideal Pool Levels?

Use our tool to find ideal chemical levels for any swimming pool. Check TFP recommended levels on pH, free chlorine, cyanuric acid, and more.
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
www.troublefreepool.com

Recommended Pool Chemicals

Which should I buy? TFP's recommended pool chemicals are cheap, easy, and won't unbalance your pool water.
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com

Did I hit all the high points?? :unsure: Holler back with questions

Maddie 🌻
 
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Reactions: cowboycasey and Mdragger88
OMG - you are AWESOME!!!
You hit every point!
To answer your questions - other than when I add the shock, our pool is always clear and looks great! I just got a new test kit that tests all of the levels but I may get the one you suggest.
One question - do you think we can get the CyA lowered just by my evaporation or should we should go ahead w/ RO?
 
yes I understand that distilled water evaporates out - which drives up CyA. We have seen that happen as we started at the 156 and then when we drained about 5", it went up to 173. Then when we refilled, we went to where it is now - 146. That makes perfect sense.
My question is do you think if we just keep repeating that cycle we could get it down below 100? Or should we just do the RO?
 
Have you called your water district to get an estimate? I believe to fill my pool is about $150 but I may get a cheaper ranch rate. Much cheaper than Lesilie's potions. Soon you will have your pool under control and will see how simple and in-expensive it can be. Start swimming! It's 100 today!
 
I second calling the water company before committing to RO. At least in my area it is the sewer charge that jacks up the monthly bill, the water itself is not that bad. My water company confirmed that if the water flow is continuous they do not charge sewage and I paid about $3.5 per 1000 gallons.
 

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I will give them a call... Thanks for advice. I'm told from my neighbor it will cost somewhere between $400-500. But they might have some different rate for pools...
 
Hi Everyone
For a variety of reasons we decided to go w/ the RO. It went well and our test afterwards lead to these results:
FC 0.0
CC 0.0
pH 7.14
TA 50
CH 100
CYA 10
TDS 382
Salt 258
Pool Calculator calculated the CSI to be -0.99
We used the pool calculator to do the adjustments and we added about 2 gallons of liquid Chlorine and 11lbs of baking soda to raise RC/CC and TA respectively. After a week, I have only added about 1/2 gallon of Chlorine (not enough - yes I fell asleep at the wheel!) and our results today are:

FC 0.06
CC 0.06
pH 8
TA 102
CH 109
CYA 30
TDS 600
Pool Calculator calculated the CSI to be 0.2 (which appears to be in a safe range)
Using the pool calculator we added about 123 oz of liquid Chlorine and about 20 oz of MA to raise RC/CC to 4 and lower pH to about 7.7 respectively. It may also lower TA some?

A couple of questions:
1. So I think that the Baking Soda was a little too much as I think that is the only thing that could have raised the TA - is that correct? I probably should have added it in smaller increments vs all of it at once...
2. Is a good target TA about 90? Or are we ok at around 100?
3. Should we worry about the CH being so low after the RO? As our CSI is in a safe range

All in all we are in much better shape than when we started!

Thanks again
Dave
 
How are you testing? This looks like pool store test results. If so, you will not get much guidance based on pool store results as they are considered too unreliable. Get yourself a TF100 or Taylor K2006C test kit and post your test results.
In the meantime, use pool math to calculate how much liquid chlorine is needed for 5ppm worth of FC and add this amount daily.
 
DPM20 said:
2. Is a good target TA about 90? Or are we ok at around 100?
Click to expand...
We tend not to recommend chasing a specific number for TA. The main function of alkalinity in the water is to buffer pH changes so it doesn’t swing wildly. Focusing on pH and adjusting it as needed will typically bring alkalinity in line to where pH is stable.

So in your case, add enough acid to lower your pH to 7.6. TA will come down a little. Rinse and repeat until you get to a good spot where your pH doesn’t rise that much.

That sweet spot tends to be a little different for everyone. My pool for example, my TA is currently at 90 and I haven’t had to lower pH in a month. It likes to chill around 7.7-7.8.
 
And I second PoolNewb2020’s recommendation to get yourself a TF-100. Link in my signature. It’s the single best investment you’ll make in your pool. It gives you complete control - you’ll never need to visit a pool store again.

All summer, I’ve added to my pool-
CYA, bought from Walmart.
Muriatic Acid, bought from the Home Improvement store.
Liquid Chlorine, bought from the Home Improvement store.

That’s it.
 
What is RC/CC??? If you mean FC (free chlorine, the good stuff) and CC (combined chloramines, the bad stuff) I think you're a little confused.

Please obtain a good test kit- either the TF-100 from www.tftestkits.net or the Taylor K-2006C from some online source. Make sure you're getting the FAS-DPD test which will test the chlorine at high levels, as well as check for CCs (you want no more than 0.5 at most).

Maddie
 
Yes you are correct that I'm using pool store and my test strips right now. Ordering a kit to get stable results

Regarding RC/CC - I mis-labeled the information. Since the test is from store, they give results for FC and TC. Both were showing the .06

After adding the Chlorine and MA last night, everything looks in line. Using the test strips I have the FC/TC around 3...

Why do you think I'm confused YippieSkippy? I'm not saying I'm not! But just curious...
 
Listing "RC/CC" as if they were the same thing, a desired level. They're actually quite opposite of each other. That's where my comment came from.

Not to worry.... these days of Covid and staying home have confused me greatly. Everyday is Saturday now... sleep till 2pm? No problem!

Maddie
 
Thanks for trying to help! I do appreciate the clarification. I will read more on that to make sure I fully understand them. I think I understand them - but I'm sure there's more for me to learn. I will read up on that...

with covid life is just all weird and time/sleep is just a concept! So I can empathize that just about anything can confuse!
 

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